Improvement in water-meters



' lnensions. i

gaat cpm 'GEORGE B. WIGG1N,"0E sou'rn NEW MARKET, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AssrGN'on" 'ro ORVILLEPECKHAM, 'rRUsTEE las sIGimR-iro GEORGE B; WIGGIN AND JOHN W.v

nonni).

` Lette/rs Pate1zt.-Z\To.v104,675, dated .Teme 21, 1870- IMPROVEMENT In WATER-METERS'.

The Schedule xeferred'co in these Letters Patent and makingyart ofcne same f To all whom. it may concern Y ne a known'uas I, GEORGE n, wreem, of stun] New Market, Rockingham county, in the State of N ew Hampshire, have-invented a new and useful Improvementin Water-Meters; and I do hereby declare that the following specication, taken in connection with l line y y of fig.-4.

` Figure 2 is atransverse vertical section upon the plane w w of fig. 4. j I

Figure 4 is a' horizontal section upon the plane a: :t offigs. 1 and 3. v V The apparatus' hereinafter described employs two pistons, actiugasiiiting buckets, which are respectively fitted to work in cylinders'of exactly equal di- Thepistons work in alternation, one being elevated when the otherisdepressed.

In combination with such'lifting pistons and their cylinders, a piston-valve is arranged, controlling'r suitable induction and eduction passages connecting with .the two cylinders,aud which valve changes its relation to1such-passages with every stroke ofthe liftingpistons, in consequence of the force of the water due Vto thepressure in the inlet-pipe 'being appliedv alternately upon opposite i, sides of. the valve, such change in the application of the force of the water being induced by supplemental valves which are opened to shift the main -valve cotemporaneously with the completion of the downward stroke .of the .lifting pistons.

The water from the inllet-pipe is discharged iirst into one eylinderfand then into the other, over the top of the lifting-pistons, in uniform quantities, de termined by the dimensions of -the cylinders, and is `afterward lifted.A 4by the-ascent of the pistons and forced into theserVice-pipes' through the main valve,

'whose alternatiugmovement -upon eachv -changeof stroke Vof the lifting-pistons', registers, through indicators, the quantity which passes through the apparatus, and which is uniformin amount foreach stroke ofthe pistons.

A A', in figs. 1 and 3, indicate two cylinders of y equal dimensions.

(B B' are lifting-pistons tted thereto.

l'No packing is required `for the pistons beyond such as the water itself furnishes, the thickness of the piston-being such'that it is easier for the water intro# duced fromthe street-mains to move the pistons than edge fulcrum, b.

` `to work its vway between 4the surfaces f the pistons and their cylinders, even if the former are not fitted cioselyto thelatter, andv especially it' the-surfaces of the former are scored to water-packing rings.-

- The pistons are cast hollow, with openings a in 't11eirbottoms, to form an air-space angldiminish their weight.-

A tilting-banO, witharms bent upward at their ends, and of equal length, is balanced upon a knifei The endsof suchV bar bear constantly against the 'bottoms of the pistons, and it isl apparent' that as one piston is descending the other,vthrongh the iniiuence of suchtilting-bar, must be made, to ascend.

The inlet-pipe from the street-main enterstlie'apparatus at D. g

The water is received from it into a chamber, E,-

located between the two. cylinders, and which is. put.

into connection with each cylinder alternately by the movement of the main 'valve hereafter to be described. y

The arrangement of the 'passages Vto effect the alternate connection of the cylinders with the central chamber E is quite obvious from an inspection of the drawing, figs. l and 3, and is not unlike the arrangement of the ports in a steam-engine furnished with a vD-slide valve. i

` c c'are passages leading to the respective cylinders, with which the passage d is alternately put into connection, by means of thefpassage E cut in the under surface of the valve F, which is arranged to slide across the ends of the passages c c d. y

The drawing shows the passage c asv connected with d, and, consequently, the water from the street-main' is rushing into the'cylindenA, causing the piston B to descend.

' When the valve F shifts, passages c andy d will be in connection, and the water will rush-into cylinder A.

F is a cylindrical piston-valve with' an interior chamber, F', having atl each end ports, f j', which', by the movement of the Valve, are' respectively put alter nately'into connection with passages c g and c gf, to give an exit-passage for the watei to the service-pipes of the building.

The piston-valve'F is fitted to a suitable cylindrical seat in a well-understood way, but, Vin consequence of the waterfrom the street-main being admitted' to the apparatus through what wasthe machine, a steam. engine would correspond with t-he exhaust-passage, a eontrivance is introduced for preventing the face of the valve from being pressed upward from the face of its seat, hereinafter tombe described.

The main valve FL is moved to andv fro by the diallow Vott-lie formation ot' rect action of the force of the water whichA is admitted upon opposite sides 'of the valve alternately by means of puppet-piston valves G G'.

Their location and loose sleeve-connection with the pistons B B is shown at figs, 1 and 3. They work in cylinders H H, and have through their sides .opposite orifices, h, which in one posit-ion of the valves coincide with similar orifices, h', through the sides of -the cylinder in which they work, and open a connection between the passage L which leads into the centralNre-ceiving chamber E, fig. 4, and the cylinder in which thepiston-valve F works, and in ,another position lthe the opposite ,orice It coincides with the oritice h/'to form a connection with the passageg, through which the Water-back of the 'valve upon each new stroke is exhausted.

The pistonsB B', in ascending, when near the end of their upward stroke, lift the lvalve G or G', appertaining thereto, and bring the passages h h" into con-4 nection. At the same time the other piston which is descending drags downward the valve G or Gp pertaining to it, and brings the ports h and h into conage I to strike the under face of the valves G-G' when the exhaust-passage lt li" is open. This is to keep the valve G from being seated prematurely bythe pressure of the .exhaust-water passing out through h h', the e'ect of which would be to open the injection h h' before the time for shifting the valve F.- l

Upon each upward stroke of the lifting-pistons B B the water in the cylinders is forced through the passages c or c', as the case may loe,r'throngh the interior chamber F in the valve F, andV thence into the passage g, into which the exhaust-water displaced bythe last change ofthevalve' F hasalready been discharged. From the passage g the outlet (lig. 4) O leads to the service-pipes of' the house.

For the purpose of preventing an excess of pressure upon the under face ofthe valve F, tending to lift it from its seat, a loose saddle', J is placed uponthe back ofthe valve and let into its surface, and a pipe, K, fornisva connection between 'the "opening e cut in the face of the v alve and the vunder face of such saddle.' whereby the valve F is'balanced. y

A rack-bar, L, working a suitable. pinion, 7c, set upon the rod fm, and connected; therewith by a pawl and ratchet-gear, causes the ltrain of the wheels whose primary is attached tothe end of the rod m outside the case of the apparatus to move one space, as indicated, bya suitablenger and dialLplat-e for every full stroke of both'pistons.

' From thevforegoing it will he understood that the apparatus constitutes an automatic machine which registers the quantity of water which passes through it, such-quantity being under every Vvariation of pressure in the streetfpipes a constant one, and equal in bulk to. the cubical contents of the water-space in the cylinders, plus the water'displaced by the movements ofthe valve F.

' The amount of friction 'in the working of the appahave ascerratus is very small, and from actual trial tained tlratothe apparatus can be .operat d by a force which is the equivalent of a pressure of water within the inlet-pipe of less than pounds per square inch. What vIclaim as my invention, and desirel to secure byLetters Patent, isv Y The improvement in water-meters -which resides in the construction of the apparatus with alternating lifting-pistons B and B', fitted to proper cylinders, -provided with induction and eduction-passages c c', which are alternately connected with the receiving-chamber E and with the passage g leading to the vdischarg orifice by means of a main sliding-valve, F, whose movements are controlled by the supplemental valves Gr G', thccombination of altemating-pist'ons, main valve, and supplemental valves, being substantially as described.

y GEORGE B. WIGGlN.

witnesses ALBERT' FIELD, GEORGE W. Spann. 

